A Facebook executive was the victim of a hoax claiming he had shot his wife and taken his children hostage

Police officers turned up at the house of a Facebook
executive in California this week after a person imitating him
called 911 and said he had shot his wife and taken his children
hostage.

The call was a hoax known as "swatting," where a person
sends emergency services to a location by phoning in a fake -
and often violent - crime.

The Palo Alto Daily Post reported that the Facebook exec, who
has not been named, was briefly handcuffed.

Facebook thanked the police and said it was "glad that our
colleague and his family are safe."

Police officers showed up at a Facebook executive's house in
California after receiving a hoax call from someone impersonating
the executive and saying he had shot his wife and taken his
children hostage.

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In a press release, the Palo Alto Police Department said an
unidentified man called 911 at 9 p.m. on Tuesday purporting to be
the executive, who has not been named, and claiming to have shot
his wife, tied up his children, and planted pipe bombs in his
house.

The police department sent officers, including crisis
negotiators, to the Facebook executive's house. He came out after
the officers started talking to him via a public-address system.
Officers who searched the house found that there was no evidence
of a crime and that no children were there, the department said.

The Palo Alto Daily Post reported that the executive, who it
said works in cybersecurity at Facebook, was briefly handcuffed.
Facebook declined to say whether he is in cybersecurity when
contacted by Business Insider.